Re: Replacing Passenger Stock (WAS Re: Bluebird Railcars for Gippsland)

["David & Jan Winter" <winterd@nospam-icenet.com.au>]

Gentlemen

I had a good discussion with a philosopher friend (also an architect and
very active in heritage preservation) about the milennium, century, etc. I
indicated that there was no year "0" between BC (BCE) and AD (CE) (in
parentheses for our Jewish friends), which he disputed on the grounds of
mathematical logic. He went away, checked some references and came back
apologetic mumbling about calendars not being logical.

Thus, we will have experienced a nominal 2000 years since the AD count began
at the end of the year labelled 2000. The year 2000 is the 2000th full year
in the AD system of counting, which is completed at the end of Dec 31st.
Note I'm careful not to mention anyone's birth, as that indeed is another
source of scholarly employment.)

As Australia was proclaimed on 1 Jan 1901, the year 2000 lacks the
significance of 2001 - but of course, we do have the Olympics, and it does
mark the end of the 1900s.

Don't know if this helps or just starts more flames?!!

DW